Mahama will win fight against waste in one year — Mahama Ayariga

Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, has expressed confidence that the government will make significant progress in tackling Ghana’s waste management challenges within the next year.

Speaking at his maiden appearance on the Government Accountability Series at the Jubilee House in Accra, Mr Ayariga said the government’s sanitation interventions would produce visible results within 12 months.

“I am 100 per cent confident that President John Dramani Mahama will win the fight against waste in this country. Give us one year, and you will see the results,” he said.

The Minister used the engagement to outline the government’s sanitation plans as well as its broader agenda for decentralisation.

Structural challenges

Mr Ayariga said the sanitation difficulties confronting many Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) were largely the result of structural deficiencies rather than a lack of commitment.

He argued that it would be unfair to continue sanctioning assemblies over poor sanitation without first addressing the infrastructure challenges that contribute to the problem.

He cited the limited number of waste transfer stations in Accra, explaining that tricycle operators who collect household waste sometimes have to travel between 20 and 30 kilometres to access a transfer station or landfill.

“If somebody offers them a corner somewhere to dump the waste for a small fee, trust me, they will cut those corners,” he said.

According to him, the practice contributes significantly to indiscriminate dumping.

The Minister also described the condition of landfills in the Greater Accra Region as dire, noting that the region, which has a population of close to seven million, has only one landfill site.

He said the facility “deserves to be immediately decommissioned” but continues to operate because there is no adequate alternative.

The only engineered landfill currently available to the region, he said, is located in the Eastern Region.

Three new landfills planned for Greater Accra

To address the infrastructure gap, Mr Ayariga said the government was engaging the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, over plans to construct at least three landfill sites and 36 transfer stations across Greater Accra.

He said the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA) had completed the necessary zonal demarcations based on population densities and proposed locations for the three landfill sites.

The Minister also disclosed that President Mahama had directed him to explore the establishment of incineration facilities that would allow waste to be burnt instead of relying solely on landfills.

He said the approach was intended to prevent the country from facing another shortage of landfill capacity in the coming years.

The proposed landfills, he explained, would be smaller than conventional facilities because the government intends to incorporate landfill gas-to-energy technology, which would reduce the volume of waste ultimately requiring disposal.

Mr Ayariga said the Finance Minister had given assurances of support for the initiative.

Nationwide sanitation strategy

The Minister further disclosed that work on a national sanitation strategy was at an advanced stage.

He said the Finance Minister was awaiting the full costing for the construction of engineered landfills in all regional capitals, including three in Greater Accra and two each in Greater Kumasi and Sekondi-Takoradi.

The Finance Ministry is also awaiting cost estimates for the establishment of transfer stations in every MMDA, he added.

Under the proposed programme, the government plans to provide waste collection vehicles, tricycles and household waste bins.

The cost of waste collection would ultimately be recovered through household fees, which would be collected through an automated payment system.

Mr Ayariga said the system was intended to reduce the financial burden on households while making waste collection more convenient by working with existing industry players and creating opportunities for more women to participate in the sector.

The government expects the initiative to create at least 20,000 permanent jobs in waste management and the circular economy.

The strategy will also require waste to be separated at the household level and maintained through the collection process up to the transfer stations.